Edinburgh's Hogmanay
Four stars
“The way to kill a
song,” says radical folk singer Dick Gaughan, quoting the late
Labour MP, Norman Buchan, before regaling the audience with a slow
version of Hamish Henderson's masterpiece, Freedom Come All Ye, “is
to make it a national anthem.” Gaughan has lost none of his
righteous fire, nor the sense of humour that accompanies it in a
glorious appearance at Scot:Lands, the nine-venue New Year's Day
gadabout Edinburgh's Old Town for a feast of themed bespoke
performances.
Gaughan was performing
as part of High:Land, which saw Ullapool's Ceilidh Place
reconstituting the venue's speak-easy vibe in the old Bristo Hall,
where the likes of Nancy Nicolson and The Cast played short sets
across two floors. Shetland Arts did something similar in Greyfriars
Kirk, aka Shet:Land, with sessions from harpist Catriona Mackay and
fiddler Chris Stout among others. Elsewhere, King Creosote formed a
super-group with fellow traveller Withered Hand at Lobster:Land, the
Pathhead Music Collective presented micro-gigs by Karine Polwart,
Dave Milligan and others at Heid:Land and folk trio Lau transformed
thre Roxy into Lau:Land.
Theatrically, there
were mummers plays at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, a
mini-version of Cora Bissett and David Greig's after-hours
music-theatre compendium, Whatever Gets You Through The Night, and
contemporary dance from Smallpetitklein set to a live Philip Glass
score in a paper-strewn St Giles Cathedral. Best of all was
New:Found:Land, a slow-burning candle-lit musical meditation in Old
St Paul's church, which saw the band FOUND combine downbeat
acoustic-led vignettes with pedal-steel and analog electronics
augmented by Emily Scott's upright bass-playing and RM Hubbert's
unique guitar flourishes. Performed in the round, its mix of ancient
and modern was a near-ritualistic experience to treasure.
The Herald, January 3rd 2014
ends
Comments